Broken lock - who should pay?

Question

My new tenants moved in 5 days ago. On the first day, they said the AC was not working well enough. On the 3rd day, they said there was an electrical issue (when the light switch in the bedroom is turned off all the electrical outlets turn off in the basement too). Today (on the 5th day) they said the lock on the sliding door leading to the back yard is broken. This seems like a lot of complaints in a short period of time. What do you think? And who should pay?
For the AC, I quickly provided them with 2 portable AC units for the upstairs rooms that they said were "unbearable". Though the previous owners said the AC was fine, and myself and the realtor knew it was fine most of the summer. I agreed to pay their first month's electricity and look into making the AC better once we know the issue. I am getting an electrician out to see what the issue is with the electrical. But the back sliding door. Seriously. This was working fine when they started renting. I'd like to make sure their first week goes well, but OMG, this is eating into any profit I might get and is starting to annoy me. Advice?

Kyle J. · Answer

Sometimes it's peaks and valleys in this business.  I can literally go months with no issues at any property, and then all of a sudden I can have several rentals seemingly all have issues around the same time.

Anyway, in regards to your question, you mention the complaints are annoying.  However, you didn't mention if they're legitimate or not.  If the things you mentioned are legitimately all broken, personally I'd consider them the landlord's responsibility to fix (absent some glaring evidence that the tenant intentionally did something to cause some damage).

Repairs, vacancy and tenant turnover are definitely things that eat into profit.  That's why longtime landlords know that profits aren't simply a measure of your mortgage - PITI.   But let's hope these few issues are just the initial "growing pains" of a new tenant (since you said they just moved in 5 days ago), and that the issues will quickly subside and things will smooth out shortly.

Best of luck!

Kevin S. · Answer

@Mark Oliver did you have them fill out a check-in form or anything documenting any existing issues when they moved in? If so and the lock being messed up on the back-door isn't listed you may have some recourse of passing the charge on to them depending on what your lease says. But overall that shouldn't be a super expensive fix so I personally would probably just eat it. I'm also slightly confused on why you're paying their first month's electricity when it doesn't sound like that was called for, but that's your own personal call.

Ryan B. · Answer

@Mark Oliver My experience has been that reports of issues in the first month after move in are much more common.  Things tend to level out thereafter.

If the issues are legit, that’s all that really matters.  I wouldn’t have paid their electricity, but if the AC isn’t right, fix it.  Your temporary solution of portable units was good.  The electrical issue sounds legit.  So I don’t fault them for reporting it.  Similarly a broken lock should be reported.  So check it out and see if there are signs of abuse.  Regardless it should be a cheap fix.

John Teachout · Answer

Go figure, yesterday we had a tenant move into a new to us house. Got an email a little after midnight that the large window AC unit wasn't working. We used this everyday for the last three weeks and it was working fine when we left there yesterday. So now I need to head over there to figure out what's up with that. We made it clear that we don't support window AC units if there's any in the unit but, I think it would be unreasonable to have it last for less than one day. (I'm hoping it's either a popped breaker or an operator issue.)

Scott Mac · Answer

Hi Mark,

You should pay.

Provide a decent living experience upon occupancy--or point these things out upfront before they sign the rental agreement.

Good Luck!

Mark Oliver · Answer

Thanks for all the feedback. This all makes sense to me.

Alexandre Marques dos Santos · Answer

@Mark Oliver

I always give 30 days service guaranteed to my new tenants.  This gives them enough comfort that things are maintained well and gives me a inspection for free 🙂

I think some tune ups are necessary.  Yes, you are right its annoying, but they are paying to have the service working.  Put yourself on their skins.. would you complain?

All the complains i read above seems reasonable to have it fixed. Not sure the AC, but i would take a look to see.

Good luck

Jacob Bohrer · Answer

@Mark Oliver as annoying as it may be, I don’t think the cost of a lock is worth the potential sour taste so to say in the tenants mouth so to say. I’d fix it and hope for the best from there.

Theresa Harris · Answer

Were these a problem before?  The electrical probably was though I think you would have noticed it.  I'm with Ryan that I wouldn't have offered to pay for their electricity.  You gave them a temporary solution which was good.

Go through and do a thorough inspection so you know what is and isn't a problem.  If it continues after you've inspected everything, offer them a happy clause to get them out of the lease.

John Teachout · Answer

My guess is that the light switch turning off the outlets is due to a miswiring in the bedroom light. Was the fixture changed or a ceiling fan installed? The hot wire that feeds the switch was connected to the wrong wire so that the switch is not only operating the light but the rest of the circuit as well. That wire from the switch should only be a single wire connecting to the light wire. It's likely an easy fix. I find crap like this all the time in houses.

Broken lock - who should pay?

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